After that casual dinner, Wu Er spent a whole week dealing with the things and graduation matters of the past five years and took the train back to his hometown to Shanglu, and it was such a farewell season, but this time to say goodbye, it is really rare to see again, the city of study is thousands of miles away from his hometown, a day and a night of train, and then he has to catch the last bus into the mountains to get home, saying that it is home, but he and his grandmother depend on each other, when he was five years old, his mother was buried in a fire, his father lost his news after leaving home in order to find the arsonist, and he raised him to adulthood, it was his grandmother who was close to the old, fortunately, Wu Er's growth environment was not too bad, and his ancestors left a few big houses, The ancestors of Qianyao Village have relied on selling herbs for generations to make a living, and the days are also comfortable and comfortable, but the only regret is that the family is not prosperous, speaking of which, Wu Er feels a little fatalistic, because there are several generations between them are born girls and not men, and when Wu Er was born, it happened to catch up with the season of pouring rain, thunder and lightning tore the gloomy clouds, like the scene of the birth of a big man in history, but that night, he was not the only one born in the world, but his grandmother always believed that his birth was special and unique for the Wu family。

got off the bus and walked two miles to see the lush forest in front of the ancestral house, grandma reverted to the surname Qili, called Qili Fuzhen, but because of the rules of the ancestors, the word Qili is not allowed to be known to outsiders, only in the genealogy still remember the real name, now the name has been changed to Qi Fuzhen, Wu Er was rebellious when he was a child, often left this rule behind, and therefore did not suffer a lot of lessons from his grandmother, and then grew up, he learned a lot, grandma is responsible for some festivals in Qianyao Village on weekdays, which family has white ceremonies and also invites grandma to preside, and the village neighbors are close on weekdays, so even if a person guards a few ancestral houses all year round, it will not be lonely and cold, this time I heard that Wu Er graduated and returned home, The old man prepared a hearty lunch early in the morning, and the dishes he cooked were all dishes that Wu Er loved to eat since he was a child.

At noon, Wu Er carried two large boxes of things and pushed open the small door of the yard, the fragrance almost did not make him cry on the spot, or his mother's house, this sudden sense of love for home can be said to be unprecedented in Wu Er's life for more than 20 years, Wu Er quietly entered the living room and hurriedly put down the box, seeing that his grandmother was still busy in the kitchen, and the table full of food made him swallow saliva, so he stretched out his hand and prepared to grab a few dishes and put them in his mouth, who knew that before he succeeded, his grandmother's clear voice rang in his ears at first glance:" Okay, you little rabbit, you haven't learned anything else, but you have learned to steal it!"

Wu Er hurriedly retracted his hand, crooked his eyebrows and looked at the old man in the corridor who was old but in good spirits: "Ouch, grandma, it's not like you don't know how hard it is to go home, compared to your cooking skills, how can you eat the things on the train, I'm really hungry." ”

The old man gave him a blank look, but when he saw his grandson coming back, he still had a loving smile on his face: "No matter how hungry you are, you can't break the rules, go, put the bag first." As he spoke, the old man handed Wu Er the wet towel he used to wipe his hands.

"Yes, yes...... You're old-fashioned. Wu Er picked up the suitcase and went to the east room, and the old man walked to the small room behind the guest hall, took three incense sticks from the dark desk and lit it, and waited for Wu Er to come out and handed it to him, Wu Er took it silently, and then knelt on the futon of the case, and bowed respectfully to a wooden plaque enshrined on the case, in fact, Wu Er did not know who was enshrined on the case, and it was covered with black cloth on weekdays. Qili Yuntang's four words, he asked his grandmother, he never thought that his grandmother was beaten badly, and then only said that this was the name of an ancestor, and every fifteenth day of the month, the Qili family had to give the wooden plaque incense and bow down, all of which were rules handed down by the ancestors, and Wu Er had also looked for it in the genealogy. Qili Yuntang's information about the ancestor, but there is little description, but it is not nothing, at least Wu Er understands that the entire Qili family has been related to the sacrifice for generations, and they are all women, it seems that the Qili family is more like a mother's family, and there are only a few records about the male clan, and then I really can't find out So, Wu Er also gave up, not to mention that it doesn't take much effort to bow down and worship the incense, Wu Er also sincerely follows it every time, which is extremely gratifying in the eyes of his grandmother.

"Okay, let's hurry up and eat, the village is busy with the sacrificial ceremony of July 15 in the evening, you can come with me to have a look." ”

Wu Er put two bowls of rice on the table, a little surprised: "Didn't you never let me participate in the sacrificial activities? Not to mention that today is only June 15, why do you have to prepare so early?"

The old man sat down and started his chopsticks, first picked up a few dishes and put them in Wu Er's bowl, and said softly: " This time is different, a few days ago the heavy rain washed away a temple near Xianhe Mountain, someone went to repair but accidentally found a wooden box from the temple, the village party secretary is also the first time to encounter such a thing, no experience, just asked me to see, I look at the box is also like some years, dare not touch at will, afraid of what antiquities, I proposed that the village party secretary first report to the county cultural relics department, but the phone has not been a reply to the past, this does not look at you to study forensic medicine, forensic autopsy is not also careful and careful, and the wooden box has been soaked in the water for several days, I don't know if there is anything important in the box to soak bad, you also know the temple on Xianhe MountainAlthough dilapidated and dilapidated, but the ancestors of the generation have passed it on for thousands of years, what wind and rain have not experienced, only this year there was an accident, the temple has the meaning of blessing this side of the water and soil, how can this collapse make the people in the village not nervous, and now rush out of a box, always have to figure out what the origin of this box is, and then don't want to find a way to do it?"

"Dare to love grandma, you are calling me a dead horse as a live horse doctor. Wu Er only swallowed, completely ignoring his grandmother's solemn demeanor when he said these words.

"Don't just play tricks, I've seen the box, and somehow, I've always been unsteady when I sleep these days, I always dream of the same thing, but I can't remember most of the things when I wake up, I can't remember how to think about it, so many years of presiding over the sacrifice, this is the second time I have such a feeling that makes me extremely uneasy, the last time it was like this, it was when the tomb of the Qili family was stolen, so I'm worried that something bad will happen this time. The old man kept talking, but he never moved his chopsticks, and Wu Er slowly realized the hidden worry in his grandmother's words, so he stopped, "Where has the box of grandmothers seen before?"

The old man shook his head: "No, but the broken lines on the surface of the box are a little familiar, but I can't remember where I have seen it, and it seems that it is not good to be unconvinced." ”

"You always remember, right?"

"Yo, don't you say that I forgot about it, there is a picture specially looking for the village branch calligraphy and painting, just to show you. The old man hurriedly got up and walked to the side room, wearing reading glasses and taking out a square piece of white paper.

Wu Er put down the dishes and chopsticks, and it was difficult to say a word about the drawing skills of the village party secretary, and even looked at the hand-painted pattern with a guess, the box was about twenty centimeters long, a palm wide, and there was a crack in the middle, to be honest, if it wasn't for his grandmother's solemn expression, Wu Er even suspected that the village party secretary deliberately drew the moonlight treasure box in the Journey to the West, and restrained the idea of almost losing his laughter, Wu Er slowly enlarged the picture, and then looked at the wooden box pattern mentioned by his grandmother, and instantly the ignorant thoughts in his mind disappeared, and was replaced by a great shock! And just now!

"Did you notice something?" the old man asked after seeing Wu Er's face pale for a while.

Wu Er swallowed his saliva and nodded: "You really can't remember this pattern, grandmother, isn't it just the same as the pattern on the wooden tablet enshrined in our family?"

"......" The old man trembled when he heard this, no wonder he was so familiar, the old man hurriedly turned into the back hall, turned on the light and carefully looked at the wooden card, a piece of lotus-like red lines covered the tablet base, although it was also mottled and fell off, but its situation was the same as the carving on the wooden box.

In other words, the wooden box that rushed out of the temple originally belonged to the Qili family?

"It's a blessing or a curse, it's a disaster that can't be avoided, since it's related to the Qili family, then you have to open the box as soon as possible anyway. When he returned to the dining table, the old man suddenly became unusually calm, and did not discuss the matter of the box anymore.

The weather in the mountains is thousands, after the meal is just a little rest, the corrugated overhead is ticking, Wu Er is half-asleep and half-awake listening to the sound of the rain outside the window, I don't know if it is a hallucination, but there seems to be a hazy figure rushing from under the eaves, Wu Er wants to get up but feels the weight of his body, no matter how hard he tries, he still can't move, the scene he sees is gradually muddy, the sound of rain seems to suddenly become harsh, and I don't know when a figure stands outside the window! Just when Wu Er desperately wanted to see clearly, a white shadow instantly floated in from the window……

"Ah~!" Wu Er instinctively opened his mouth and shouted, the next moment everything squeezed into his eyes together, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, he suddenly turned his head to look out of the window, the sound of rain was still there, but outside the window except for the dense forest, where could I see a little figure.

"Damn, the ghost pressed the bed. Wu Er wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and suddenly felt that something in his pocket was uncomfortable, and when he touched it, he found that it was the amulet, and immediately patted his forehead and complained to himself: "I'm really stupid, I only remembered that the name of the beautiful woman was Yue Shiyin, but I forgot to ask for contact information, and I was really single by ability!"

"Grandma Qi!" Just as Wu Er raised his forehead and frowned, a crisp call came from outside the door, this voice was very familiar, Wu Er quickly turned over and got out of bed, opened the door and looked at the courtyard, and said loudly: "Xiu Yao, the key is still hanging in the original position, you just open the door and come in." ”

"Huh, Brother Er is back!" The woman standing outside the courtyard gate turned her head sideways, revealing a melon seed face from a pile of herbs, and saw that Wu Er first smiled and then immediately pulled down her face: "Seeing that people take so many things, they don't come to take the handle, how can they go to get the key empty-handed." ”

Wu Er shook his head helplessly: "It's coming, oh my God, why are you getting so many herbs?"

"This is the forsythia that Grandma put in the medicine field a few days ago, and I didn't see Grandma come to collect it for a few days, I guess I forgot it, I saw that it was going to rain and quickly collected it and sent it over. ”

Wu Er took the forsythia from Xiu Yao's hand, spread it out and spread it by the window, and handed her a clean wet towel: "Hurry up and wipe it, save yourself a while and fidget." ”

Xiu Yao is Wu Er's childhood sweetheart, born with a pair of big eyes, this is also a beauty, and her temperament is gentle, but she has a habit of cleanliness, and she can't stay for a long time in a dirty environment, Xiu Yao didn't continue to go to school after finishing junior high school, and has been staying in the village to help grow and collect medicines, and Wu Er has been going to the city to study in high school, and the time to go back to Qianyao Village has become less and less, and the changes in the growth environment have made the two drift apart, and the topic is difficult to talk about together。

"Have you had a long vacation?" Xiu Yao carefully cleaned up the herbal crumbs on his clothes, and asked the same question as usual last time, Wu Er nodded: "This time it's a complete holiday, come back from graduation and take a rest, rectify and go out to find a job." ”

"What about Grandma? When you go out to work, you can't let someone guard these old houses. Xiu Yao wiped the chair clean again before sitting down. This question made Wu Er fall into silence, yes, grandma is so old, what should I do if my grandmother goes out to work, she has lived in Qianyao Village all her life, and she wants to move to the city outside to live with herself, according to her grandmother's character, she will definitely not agree, and she will inevitably take time to come back and see, but this is not a long-term solution, the more Wu Er thinks about it, the more headache she has, so she simply doesn't think about it anymore: "When the time comes, find a place closer to the village to work." ”

The topic came to an abrupt end, but fortunately, my grandmother rushed back, and saw that the two of them were sitting upright in the guest hall and just smiled slightly, the two children have been close since childhood, plus Xiu Yao is smart and capable, as early as in the eyes of the old man, this is the best choice for granddaughter-in-law, but in the past few years of studying outside, Wu Er's thoughts have changed a lot, I am afraid that it is not as pure as it was at the beginning, in silence, Wu Er's eyes did not know where to put it, and he was playing with a copper coin.

"Grandma, you're back. ”

"Look at my old bones, my memory is getting worse and worse, I forgot that the forsythia is still in the medicine field to dry, Xiu Yao, thanks to you, I always told you to go all the way to help send it over. The old man smiled and thanked him, glanced at Wu Er's appearance again, and grabbed him on the shoulder angrily: "Such a big person, there is no serious appearance when there are guests at home." ”

Wu Er was in pain, and as soon as his hand shrank, the copper coin fell to the ground and rolled away: "Ouch, grandma, Xiu Yao is not a stranger, why are you seeing you outside?"

"Even if you're not an outsider, people come from afar, and you don't pour a glass of water?"

The old man blamed Wu Er, but there was a cry of pain behind him that startled the two, it turned out that Xiu Yao saw the copper coin rolling towards him and bent down to pick it up, but for some reason he quickly retracted his hand as if he was hot, and his face became pale and ugly, without the mother-in-law and grandson relieving themselves, Xiu Yao lowered his head and hurriedly got up and said: "Grandma, the medicine has been delivered, I'll leave first if there's nothing else." ”

"......" Xiu Yao trotted all the way out of the courtyard, watching her walk away, the old man silently picked up the copper coin, and suddenly frowned: "Isn't this the copper coin I use for my daily sacrifices?"

Wu Er didn't know why, so he replied: "When I get up from a nap, I see that it is on the table, so I will take it like this......"

“…… Well. The old man groaned, as if thoughtful, Wu Er saw that something was wrong from his grandmother's demeanor, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, grandma?"

"Strange ......" The old man frowned, his words seemed to be talking to himself, and Wu Er was even more confused: "Grandma, you have made your words clearer, what's not strange?"

"It stands to reason that copper coins will only smell fishy if they are stained with unclean things. After the old man finished speaking, he shook his head again, "Xiu Yao, this girl, how can she react like this......

"I said grandma, don't worry about it, Xiu Yao already has a habit of cleanliness? Wu Er didn't care, and the old man nodded without thinking about it anymore: "Alas, this child is good at everything, how can he give birth to such a mental illness." ”